


Staged Life

by AKA_Jinx, Innocentfighter



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: AU, Everyone is an Idol, Gen, Humor, I think the rating will stay the same, Idol AU, Pairings later maybe, Slice of Life, Still nerds, Tags to be added as needed, They're singers now, all of them - Freeform, co-authored, for now its general
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-17
Updated: 2016-05-18
Packaged: 2018-03-07 22:21:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3185360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AKA_Jinx/pseuds/AKA_Jinx, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Innocentfighter/pseuds/Innocentfighter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written with Jinx~!<br/>The idol group Generation of Miracles had been the biggest stars in years. No one could match them, but after the fallout with their seventh member the group’s popularity declined, and so did the friendships within the group. Enter Kagami Taiga, the American returnee with no knowledge of the current hit in Japan. He wishes to attend high school like any other teen, but when he saved a certain Kuroko Tetsuya, any hope of a normal, quiet life went out of the window.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Uncommonly Famous

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IF: Sup ya'll. I'm back with another chapter story. Don't hit me with sharp things, however since this is co-authoered I should still be able to tackle all of them, so that's awesome right? You can blame this idea from watching Shounen Hollywood and Utapri and Jinx's obsession with voice actors that spawned this one, so I'll give a major AU a shot once in my fanfictioning career.  
> Jinx: This is an embarrassment and these boys are nerds but it’s hella fun to write about B)  
> With that being said, we'll see you at the bottom.  
> DISCLAIMER WE DON'T OWN KnB

_Occasionally, the most extraordinary things happened to the most ordinary people. Other times, this happen to the least expecting. A blue collar worker with a comfortable life could win the lottery. Most people don’t wake up expecting to find their soulmates that day, but that sometimes happens. Who knows._

_However, this story isn’t about the lucky blue collared worker or the soulmate finder. It’s about a boy, ordinary in life but talented in basketball, who has a kind soul and is completely unaware._

* * *

 

Despite having lived in large cities his entire life, Kagami Taiga was still entirely unsure of how to navigate one. That’s why he was out in the middle of downtown Tokyo on a Saturday afternoon. He had been under the impression that all big cities were the same, but the feeling of Tokyo to Los Angeles was completely different. Tokyo seemed like it was more alive with all of the commuters when Los Angeles had everyone in a hurry and everyone had a vehicle, opposing the pedestrians all over this Japanese city.

Kagami stopped suddenly and looked around, where he found himself in what seemed to be the commercial district of this part of the city. The teen wasn’t sure, he was just going by the large advertisement displays flashing across the screens. The redhead was about to go find a map when the screen changed.

It was playing music, and the beat was rather catchy, around him he saw that quite a few other passerbies had stopped to stare at the screen. _Was this some big thing?_

“Ah this must be the new advertisement GoM did!” Some girl who was about his age had squealed out her words.

_GoM? What’s that?_ He arched one of his thick eyebrows, lost in what was occurring.

Kagami’s curiosity surfaced; if he was going to get back into this culture he needed to know what was the big thing.

“Coming to stores soon!” An announcer spoke, “the newest album put out by Generation of Miracles!”

_They’re a band, then? Must be popular to get this type of advertisement._

The screen changed from the black screen with the information text to a brightly flashing stage and a red-haired male walking out with a large smile. He opened his eyes to reveal two different colors, the girls next to Kagami squealing loudly. Kagami took a step to the side away from them, clearing his throat and redirecting his attention to the man on the stage.

“Thank you for your support these last few years,” the mismatched-eye guy said, “we hope that you’ll enjoy this album as much as we enjoyed make it.” Kagami rolled his eyes as the male paused before continuing his line. “We made it especially for you.” The male had winked one of his eyes and pointed towards the camera, directed at whomever his fans were.

Judging by the loud chattering from the girls beside him, he assumed the fanbase was teenage girls. However, Kagami couldn’t believe what he was watching, how could anyone be that full of themselves? The girls next to him were talking excitedly with each other, and he knew that they were talking about buying the album. _There isn’t any shortage of people like that in the world_ , he thought with a sigh; he remembered a few from his years in the States.

After that commercial he began to notice that there were posters and advertisements everywhere showing that guy and what he guessed to be his band. Kagami quickly grew tired of seeing their faces every ten feet and tried to ignore them, which was easier said than done. The posters and the guys in them were very colorful. It seemed like this entire area was obsessed with them. The music stores’ windows were filled with their merchandise. _Just how successful are these guys? Is their music that good?’_

Kagami honestly doubted it, he figured they were only famous for looks. Tokyo and Los Angeles weren’t that different after all.

Eventually, he ended up in a less populated area, which is probably why he was able to notice the commotion taking place in an alleyway ahead of him.

“Lookit this, boys! This kid thinks that he can tell us what to do!”

Kagami stopped, waiting to see what exactly was happening. Suddenly, he saw someone get thrown against the wall. He looked like he wasn’t much older than a middle schooler. The redhead grit his teeth. _So there were assholes like this everywhere._ Without much thought - which wasn’t unusual - he took off to intervene before that kid got seriously hurt.

* * *

 

The air was forced out of Kuroko’s lungs as his back hit the wall. He winced when he felt scrapes form as he slid so that he was sitting down. He struggled to regain his breath, though he looked up in time so see the self-proclaimed gang leader raise his foot for a kick.

_“Oi! What do you guys think you’re doing?”_ The voice didn’t sound familiar nor was it speaking Japanese, and while Kuroko was curious to see who was willing to stand up for him, he knew that he shouldn’t take his eyes off the leader, lest he take advantage of his lapse of attention.

“Who the hell are you?” One of the gang members spat back.

Kuroko slowly struggled to his feet, still not fully recovered from being flung into a wall - ah, he was going to bruise.

The newcomer, now that Kuroko could see him better, was tall; wide at the shoulders and intimidating. Not Akashi level of intimidation, but most people would back away from an aura like that.

“Listen, why’re you beating up a kid?” His voice fit his build, strong but not harsh.

_He’s not very delicate, is he?_ Kuroko thought before he realized that he had been called a kid once again, thus he tightened his jaw in irritation, sore from gritting it with anger of how constant that assumption was.

“He was trying to tell us what to do,” The gang leader replied, smirk across his lips like he had the situation under his control.

“I wasn’t,” Kuroko interrupted. He could speak on his own behalf at least. “I was suggesting you keep quiet, the people weren’t appreciating it.” People walked by the alley but no one spoke, leaving Kuroko’s statement partially credible.

For his trouble he almost got punched in the face, this time he was expecting retaliation and was able to get out the way, locating himself next to the newcomer.

“Whatever your _beef_ with him is, just let it go.” He emphasized his words, and Kuroko noticed that he had some sort of accent.

“What’re you gonna do ‘bout it? _Huh?_ You pickin’ a fight?” The leader said, stepping into the redhead’s space.

The other didn’t seem mind the sudden invasion of his personal space, instead he drew himself up to his full height, which was impressive. With his shoulders pulled back and chest puffed, he looked different from his first impression of a good built body - Kuroko could tell he had muscle and wasn’t afraid to use it for the sake of himself. Kuroko watched with interest, wondering if there was going to be an actual fist fight. At least it wouldn’t be a one-sided beatdown like it would’ve been with him. The gang leader looked a little less certain now that he had to crane his neck quite a ways to maintain eye contact.

There was a minute of silence where the two guys were glaring at each other before the leader of the gang backed off, shoes scraping the ground when he turned.

“C’mon, he ain’t worth it,” he spat towards his gaggle. While the rest of the gang followed after their leader, Kuroko noted that they were trying to keep their pride intact after being scared off by one guy.

Two mouths opened and spoke at the same time, “Thank you,” said the bruised boy; “You all right?” said the knight with red hair. A short moment of silence, the taller one let out a breath that sounded similar to that of a laugh.

“You all right, kid?” He repeated, regaining himself.

Kuroko felt his eyebrow twitch slightly. “I’m fine, also I am not a kid. I am in highschool.”

“Seriously?!” The other exclaimed. “Also, did you think that you were going to be able to take them all on?”

“No,” Kuroko replied bluntly before flexing. “Do you see these guns?”

Blinking, the other spoke, “You don’t have any.”

Kuroko just gave him a pointed look that he hoped said ‘exactly.’

“Thank you for your help,” Kuroko bowed regardless.

The other scratched the back of his head. “Hey, there’s no need for that. Those guys would’ve messed you up bad.”

“That is why I have to thank you properly, it would’ve been troublesome if they had done worse.”

His red hair was in his eyes, but he was nervous, face gathering a slight pink undertone. “Uh...”

Kuroko continued speaking. “Its past lunch, have you eaten?”

“No, I don’t know anywhere good to go,” he admitted, moving his hand from his neck and running it through his hair, bangs falling back lazily.

The boy with blue hair arched an eyebrow. He paused to take in the other being in front of him. He was tall and well built for sure, he had odd eyebrows, carried himself proudly, and spoke like a foreigner. He was an interesting character.

“Ah, then as thanks, I’ll buy you lunch.”

Once again, the other blinked in surprise. “Uhm...” Kuroko could tell that he was bad at socializing, which was a downfall for his other pros.

“I was just about to leave for the day anyway; we weren’t making any progress.” Kuroko took off, wondering if the other teen would follow after him. He wasn’t disappointed when he heard footsteps start to echo his. After a while, Kuroko returned back to a large building with several others attached to it. In the studio he could hear the others laughing and goofing off on stage.

“Please wait here, I’ll be right back.”  

With that as a parting, the silent boy slipped through the open doors and took off towards the stage area. He made sure that he made his presence scarce as he went about collecting his items. Looking up to where the others were meant to be practicing, they were instead were sitting around. Kuroko furrowed his brow when he noticed their loudest member was no longer present, quickly wondering if the other even bothered to show up.

Without a word to the group, he returned to the doorway where he had left his rescuer. Kuroko was relieved to find that he hadn’t left the spot he was instructed to stay in.

“Let’s go. Do you like burgers?”

The other grinned. “Love ‘em.”

_That’s a relief, I hoped to go to Maji anyway._

The pair walked in silence since; they weren’t sure what to talk about being complete strangers and all, any conversation would be forced. Kuroko looked around and noticed that on one of the bus stop houses it was advertising Kise’s latest magazine cover.

“He’s doing well,” Kuroko thought out loud.

“Who?”

“Kise-kun.”

The redhead scrunched up his face. “Who?”

Kuroko struggled to keep his face neutral. “Kise Ryouta? The model?”

There was a shake of his companion’s head. “Haven’t the slightest clue.”

“Really?” Kuroko was shocked, he hadn’t met anyone that didn’t know Kise’s name before, it was odd. “Everyone knows him.”

“Everyone in Japan.”

Kuroko blinked. “Are you not from Japan?”

“I just moved back.”

“Ah.”

There was a decrease in conversation after that, Kuroko silent nature didn’t mind it so much, but he wondered if it would be awkward for the other, the redhead seemed like he was a loud type of person.

Abruptly Kuroko stopped walking, spotting a familiar figure in the distance. “Speak of the devil.”

“Huh?”

Kuroko sped up his pace, hurrying over to the other. Kise was trying to look inconspicuous by wearing a hat and dark shades. “Kise-kun?”

His companion was a few steps behind him. “Kise?”

“Kurokocchi!” The blond wailed, suddenly clinging to Kuroko. “Thank goodness you’re here, I need to get out of the public’s view! You never know where Momoicchi or Akashicchi are!”

“Let go, Kise-kun.” Kuroko jabbed the blond in his ribs to make sure he was released.

“So mean!” Kise sobbed, adding in a fake sniffle. His acting skills had improved as well, though Kuroko knew he was just teasing.

“Uh...” The redhead’s eyes darted between Kuroko and Kise.

“Sorry,” Kuroko bowed an apology. “This is my...” he hesitated, trying to find the right word. Friend? Partner? “Groupmate, Kise Ryouta, the model.”

There was no response. The redhead just blinked.

Kise pouted. “Kurokocchi, does he not know who we are?”

“I am starting to think not.”

The blond jumped excitedly. “Can we do them? Please?”

Kuroko bit back a sigh, he wouldn’t get any peace if he didn’t agree to this. “You go first.”

With the exuberance that only Kise could posses the blond jumped into the middle of the sidewalk. The with the fluidity of someone who had practiced something a hundred times he did his pose.

Kise spun around on his heel with one knee slightly bent, winking while making a peace sign and having a blinding smile. “There’s no one who can copy you because you’re perfect. I’m Kise Ryouta!” He exclaimed, loudly. No one was around to point and either laugh or yell out his name and come crowd him, thankfully.

Without missing a beat Kuroko stepped forward while Kise stepped back. Like Kise he twirled, only it was on the ball of his foot and he had one hand stretched out. “I’ll be the shadow, to your light.” The he raised his finger to his lips. “Please remember I’ve been here the whole time.” He winked. “I’m Kuroko Tetsuya.”

Kuroko watched as the redhead opened and closed his mouth several times in apparent shock. The blue-haired boy wonder if the other was all right.

Then, rather suddenly, the taller out of the trio raised his hand in an awkward wave, making more of a grimace than a grin, but spoke - nay, blurted out: “I’m Kagami Taiga! Nice to meet you!”

Kise was horrible at stifling his laugh, but a few snorts escaped his hands covering his mouth. Inhaling through his teeth and exhaling out his nose, Kuroko ducked his head slightly and walked towards the newly discovered Kagami.

“Pretend that didn’t happen. Let’s go eat.”

“Y-Yeah,” Kagami said, face a little flushed like his hair, trailing after Kuroko, Kise still laughing behind them.

“What do you want?” Kuroko turned, baby blue eyes opened towards Kagami. “I’ll pay.”

“Are you sure? I kind of eat a lot.” Kuroko waved him off.

“It’s fine, I can pay.”

“You sure?”

“Kagamicchi, if you keep asking, he’ll say no! Where are your manners?” Surprised by the nickname and lessons in respect, Kagami stood, mouth agape.

“B-Burgers,” he stammered out. “I’ll have ten.”

“Ten?” Kise squealed from behind them.

“Kise-kun, please go find us seats.” Kuroko shooed him away, never changing his kind expression. With a heavy exhale and dramatic turn on his heel, Kise stalked off and grabbed a couple chairs together. “Ten burgers, one chicken salad and a vanilla milkshake, please.”

“That’s all you’re getting?”

“I don’t need much.”

“If you’re sure,” his words rolled off his shoulders when Kagami shrugged.

“Can you get the food? I need to talk to Kise-kun quickly.” Kuroko spoke and Kagami nodded, but when he turned he was alone in line. No short head of blue hair but an empty burger joint with a blonde sitting off the in the corner.

“Number 111,” a squeaky voice croaked, a lanky boy in a dirty uniform slid over a plastic tray of food. He passed by a debit card and a receipt.

“Is this Kuroko’s?” Kagami pondered out loud, carrying the tray and standing in the middle of the place, lost.

“Kagamicchi!” Kise called, waving a thin arm in the air. It was like a noodle dangling from chopsticks, but Kagami approached and sat.

“Thank you,” Kuroko said, taking his card and sliding it in his pocket.

Silence surrounded them and if it weren’t for the crinkling of hamburger wrappers, the squeak of Kuroko’s straw or the crunch of Kise’s lettuce, the lack of conversation is suffocating. After a while, Kise cleared his throat.

“So?” He asked, voice excited and a little eager for a response. “What’d you think?” Kagami froze.

“The burgers are good,” he responded, not answering Kise’s vague question. Kuroko bit back a smile.

“I meant our introductions! We’ve been working on them and you’re the first to see them! Well, that and besides Akashicchi. He wouldn’t stop pestering us about that. Kurokocchi, how do you think that spin was? Too fast? I don’t want to get yelled at again.”

“You’ll get yelled at for skipping again, Kise-kun.”

“Don’t remind me,” the blond wailed. “Do you think we’ll still have a chance to go back? Maybe it won’t be as bad if we still show up.”

“I have a reason for missing,” he took a long sip of the thick drink. “You just didn’t feel like it.” Kise sighed, falling back in his chair and tipping it on the back legs.

“Let’s hurry up and maybe Momoicchi will forgive us.”

“Forgive _you_ ,” Kuroko corrected under his breath and he noticed Kagami, who had run out of burgers, cocking an eyebrow and looking at them. It was obvious that he still didn’t know who they were.

“Kagami-kun, I have a question for you.” Tucking a piece of hair behind his ear, Kuroko set his drink down and looked into Kagami’s eyes. “Have you ever heard of the Generation of Miracles?”

Kuroko had only heard a sigh that heavy and that’s when Akashi got really mad with them, but Kagami made the same noise.

“That annoying pop group or whatever? They’re everywhere. It’s an eyesore, honestly.”

Silence broke out, Kise speechless for a moment. When a noise sounded, it was Kise’s giggles, trying to hide them as his body shook slightly. Kuroko ignored him.

“Is that what you think of them?”

“I don’t know that much of them but I can’t go anywhere without seeing them.” He had one arm draped over the back of his chair, watching the people outside the window. Many people passed, no one worth mentioning, until Kagami got a glimpse of the bus stop across the street.

“See,” he pointed, finger aimed at the bench portraying six boys’ faces. “There they are. Who has hair like that, anyways,” he scoffed, turning back around to two pair of eager eyes.

“I can’t see them. Describe them to me.” Kuroko kept his face neutral.

“Are you saying _you_ don’t know them? Well, whatever. One has purple hair that’s too long, another has... Is that green? And there’s two with blue.”

“Is there a blond one?” Kise’s voice was soft, but Kuroko could see him holding back laughter. Kuroko had to jab his index finger into the other’s side to get him to be quiet.

“Yeah, actually. He kinda looks like you. I mean, I haven’t seen many blond guys, but--” It was dangerous how fast Kagami turned his head before he finished his thought. Kise’s face was a burning red from holding his breath and Kuroko’s eyes were smiling though his face hadn’t changed since they first met.

“Y-Yo-- Hey!” His voice got higher and louder, his hands raising and moving about in the air, as if he could literally grab words to make a sentence. “Stars!! Id-- Miracl-- Hey!”

“Shhh,” Kuroko whispered, Kise’s laughter covering both their noises.

“Oh, man, this is better than I expected,” Kise cooed, wiping away the slightest hint of tears, breath a little choppy from laughing. “But hey, you got to eat with idols!”

“Why didn’t you tell me?!” Kagami demanded, as if they should introduce themselves as nationwide singers before they say their name.

“Because you should’ve recognized us?” Kuroko responded, Kise nodded in agreement. This was against Kagami not being in the country, but it should’ve been more obvious than he took it for.

“We have to head back to our recording studio,” pushing his chair in, Kuroko stood and held firmly onto his milkshake. “You’re welcome to join us.”

“Yeah!” Kise said, draping his arms over Kuroko’s shoulder, who politely pushed it away. “It’ll be fun! You can meet the rest of the group!”

“Th-there’s more?” Kagami held onto a tray of empty wrappers, following them towards the trash and out the door.

“Of course! We’re a whole group,” Kise began, designating himself as leader, the other two boys trailing behind him. “If you think we’re cool, you just wait.”

Next to him he could see Kagami let out another exasperated sigh, he just shrugged at the other’s wary look.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tells us how chapter one was! See you next time! Later! ~IF and Jinx


	2. Maji Love 1000%

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IF:Wow! Thanks for the positive feedback! Its really great since this is a really fun AU to write! I really don't have much to add but yeah, wow thank you so very much for your support!  
> Jinx: Jesus this was kind of an inside joke but it’s so fun to write about and I’m glad you guys are enjoying this! Thanks for the good feedback!! I hope you guys continue to join us with the rest of these nerds and whatever ensues on their adventures. Really, though, thank you!!  
> See you at the bottom!  
> DISCLAIMER WE DO NOT OWN KnB  
> See if you catch the reference in the title!

_Another day passes. Somewhere, someone won the lottery. Someone fell in love. They’ve gained something in their lives, something that happens only once in a lifetime. However the boy that we’re talking about is getting his once in a lifetime chance, but as it is sometimes known to happen they can pass on by if it isn’t seized._

_Others continue their life without the intention of finding their true happiness for that day, but life works in mysterious ways. While one teen struggles to finish his day, more chances for new opportunities in his life pass him by without the chance to truly appreciate his situation._

* * *

 

The trio had been walking for about a block, and of the entirety of their time Kise had not stopped talking once. It was about nothing really, just things that came to his mind and out of his mouth. Kagami began to wonder if Kise himself was paying attention to what he was saying. Otherwise, Kagami tried to tune the blond out, being that there wasn’t anything of interest worth listening to.

“The Generation of Miracles are super popular, actually! Our last album _still_ hasn’t left the best seller’s list and we’re getting ready to release a new one!”

Briefly, Kagami wondered how long it had been between their album releases. He didn’t feel like asking Kise however, he didn’t want to encourage the model on jabbering about any further than intended.

“I don’t know how because no one takes practice seriously anymore,” beside Kagami, the words came from the shorter teen, Kagami almost forgetting he was there. Kuroko mumbled something under his breath, catching Kagami’s attention.

The redhead arched an eyebrow, surprised by the tone Kuroko used. It was true that he didn’t know the other well but he didn’t seem like the type to voice things so openly. Well, then again, this whole thing started with Kuroko telling off those punks to quiet down. Kagami was about to inquire further when another one of Kise’s lines caught the other’s attention.

“It really is fun being in a group with everyone!” Kise smiled, exposing perfectly straight, white teeth. _Just like a model should have,_ Kagami supposed.

Then without missing a beat, Kuroko once again commented on the blond’s words.” As of late it’s more of a job than fun.” Kagami wasn’t sure where these words were directed, but either Kise didn’t hear him or blatantly ignored him.

The group walked in silence a little further. Well, silence between Kagami and Kuroko for Kise was still talking about the Generation of Miracles. Standing tall and walking with a little skip in his step, he spoke of the fun things they did and how they were so popular because they had great stage chemistry. Out of the corner of his eye Kagami could see Kuroko shaking his head in silent disagreement, his lips turned just slightly in a frown.

Loudly, a variety of voices sounded, startling all three boys, Kise especially. Kuroko’s frown only deepened a bit when Kise dug around his pockets and pulled out his cell phone, the singing getting louder.

“Oh no!” Kise wailed, throwing his head back in despair. “It’s my manager, she’s going to be super upset I missed the shoot!”

Despite his fake but apparent worries, Kise still moved off to the side a little ways and answered the call, voice hushed. Out of the corner of his eye Kagami could see the older boy flinching at the harsh words yelling through the opposing end of the phone, Kise apologizing repeatedly.

“Kise-kun has the largest fan base in the group,” Kuroko said suddenly, surprising Kagami, who was still interested in how Kise seemed so dramatic though he was used to skipping. According to Kuroko’s earlier statements, that is.

 _If he doesn’t speak up, you forget he’s there. How the hell is this guy an idol?_ Kagami sighed, shoulders slumping, body lurching forward, turning his head and cocking an eyebrow with interest. “Oh?” Although Kuroko’s presence was forgettable, there was a special aura when you paid close enough attention.

“Its due to his work as a model as well as his position as a member of GoM, though he’s our most recent recruit.” Kuroko explained, his blank but wide eyes watching Kagami’s facial expressions, which consisted of furrowed eyebrows and a puzzled look within his dark red eyes.

“Was he a model first, then?” Kagami found himself asking without a thought.

“Yes, he worked as a childhood star. He became a model in middle school, for reasons I don’t fully understand. He joined the group about a year and half ago.”

Nodding, Kagami regained his form of standing back up and glancing back at Kise. “Ah.”

Kuroko didn’t say anything more, and even though his curiosity was piqued he realized that he wouldn’t get an answer. It just further supported his theory that Kuroko was a private, or at least quiet, person. Possibly shy - _No, wait, an idol can’t really be shy, can he?_ Questions buzzed around Kagami’s mind but the silent nature of Kuroko angered him that he figured asking would get him nowhere.

About fifteen minutes later of silence between the duo, left behind by Kise, he finally put his phone back in his pocket. “Sorry about that, the lecture I got was really long, my manager is super pissed.” He didn’t seem that phased. _It must really be common._

“You skipped a shoot, of course she’d be upset,” Kuroko responded, voice as monotone as usual. Did that ever change?

“Kurokocchi! You’re supposed to be on my side!” Kise whined.

Kuroko, for his part, began walking once more ignoring the wailing blond. Kagami stared in confusion. _Do they really get along?_

Kise followed after Kuroko but turned back after a few steps. “Aren’t you coming?”

Lost in his thoughts, he snapped back into reality, a couple meters away from the others. Shaggy red hair bounced a bit when he dashed forward, catching up. Kuroko had stopped at the corner, apparently waiting for them. Kagami tilted his head in confusion. _Wait, I thought they didn’t get along._

The returnee sighed. He was sure that while he was hopefully never to meet these guys again after today, he would possibly never be able to understand idols. They were way too confusing, juggling different personalities within themselves and others. Why couldn’t they be like American artists and come out and say that they didn’t like their bandmate. Maybe a little drama. That’s what he couldn’t get used to back in Japan - how ‘perfectly’ everyone got along. The only drama he saw were cheesy shows he was forced to watch until his tv was fixed. Even then it was so staged, but watching these two interact was almost forced.

After awhile they eventually got back to the studio, the latter part of the walk had been a lot like the start of it, with Kise talking about everything opposed to Kuroko’s silent inputs. Kagami had tried to understand some of Kise’s babbling but most of it went over his head. He didn’t understand anything about “unflattering lighting” or “the key was too low.” It sounded like he was making things up for the purpose of entertaining his guests, though Kagami wasn’t paying much attention.

Just before they were going to enter the building Kise’s phone rang once more, a different song sounding but the same sigh from the blond, and like the previous time Kise stepped away to take the call.

“I have to go, my manager was able to reschedule the shoot, but it’s in an hour, and I don’t think I’ll be able to survive missing it again,” Kise said, upon returning to Kuroko and Kagami.

“Of course,”  Kuroko replied. “We can’t have our best idol die.” His words were sarcastic but his tone remained the same, unnoticed by Kise, who smiled and thanked Kurokocchi for the compliment.

With that, Kise waved to them as he skipped off. They ended up in the seemingly empty area where their first interaction occured. Kagami wondered where all the people he had seen earlier had gone off to. Was this just a naturally quiet side of town? If so, why was an idol group allowed to practice here?

Kuroko lead him up the stairs and unlocked the door with a key he had pulled out of nowhere. It wasn’t in his hand before they had reached the top landing, but Kagami didn’t question it. Everything he did was so quiet, for all he knew Kuroko could’ve left him back at the burger place and he wouldn’t have noticed. Thankfully, though, the silent boy was with him. The latter turned towards him, raising his head up and spoke in a hushed voice.

“If they’re still practicing could I ask you to be quiet?”

“Uh, sure?”

After that Kuroko opened the door. Right away Kagami noticed that it was silent compared to before. He followed Kuroko to the stage room, where he heard someone talking heatedly, but he couldn’t find where the person was talking from. Was he hidden or something? It was like the opposite of Kuroko; a loud voice with no body versus a quiet, almost unheard of voice to a small build.

“Really Takao?” The voice hissed out, echoing in the building. “Do you realize how hard it is to clear time in my schedule?”

Kagami looked over to Kuroko, questions in his expression.

“That would be Midorima-kun.”

The redhead shrugged. The name meant nothing to him, Kuroko looked like he was about to elaborate further when Midorima spoke again.

“Yes, I realize that, but you should be considerate of other people.” He continued speaking, paused, sighed and continued. “You were the one who begged for a day to hang out.”

There was silence, and then the supposed Midorima-kun spoke once more. A very harsh “goodbye” and a loud slam of a phone closing.

Kagami waited a few seconds before Midorima walked out from behind the curtains. A scowl on his face that was evident even from where Kagami was standing.

The boy, the one with green hair from the poster, leapt from the stage and landed without much a sound. He seemed to be saying something to himself making his way towards them.

“Is he in a bad mood?” Kagami asked, leaning down and whispering. He didn’t want to admit it, but the boy was tall, had a decent build and an intimidating voice from an overheard conversation.

“Most likely, it sounded like Takao-kun cancelled their plans.” Kuroko replied, as if that answered anything. Kagami supposed it did, though that name meant nothing to him.

Midorima walked right up to them, glared at Kagami. He had this look in his eyes like he was about to say something to him when he looked down and spotted Kuroko, his eyes widened slightly behind his thin glasses.

“Kuroko,” his voice was softer but carried an intensity to it, “what are you doing, bringing someone in here?”

Kuroko ignored the harsh tone and replied calmly, “I was about to show him around.”

“Why?” Midorima asked, eying Kagami. Overhead lights bounced off of his glasses but Kagami could feel the heat of the stare yet the ice in his attitude.

The redhead was never one to care what people thought about him but there was almost an immediate distaste towards him, returning the taller one’s aggressive aura.

“I want to,” Kuroko spoke flatly.

“Aomine and Kise are who I expect to bring people here, but not you.”

Kuroko eyed the green-haired male. “Did practice not go smoothly?” Ignoring the statement, he changed the subject with ease.

The scowl, if possible, deepened. “Well, two of our members weren’t present, and those that were here - namely Aomine - goofed off the entire time.”

“That’s to be expected,” Kuroko shrugged, closing his eyes as if these words were a lullabye to him.

“Why weren’t you here? You never miss a practice.”

“I was,” he paused. Opening one eye he looked at Kagami, whose eyebrows were pointed inwards, eyes squinted and focused on Kuroko’s other member. “Held up by something, and by the time it was finished there was no point in coming, as practice would be coming to a close.”

Kagami wondered if the “something” Kuroko was referring to was the gang earlier and then taking him out to eat. The redhead felt bad that the idol was getting chewed out by one of his groupmates for missing, but then again it _wasn’t_ his fault. Still, Kagami felt like he had to say something.

“It’s practice for being an idol, how important could it be?” Kagami spoke for the first time, startling Midorima, who wasn’t paying attention to him.

“Practice for _anything_ is serious. Man proposes, God disposes. If you don’t do everything in your power, then you will not succeed.” Midorima retorted. Kagami blinked.

“I don’t understand what you said, but how you said it pissed me off.” He was honestly blunt, speaking without thinking but meaning what he said. Midorima’s eye twitched a little, his glasses shifting on his face.

Kuroko stepped between them before they could do something to each other. “Kagami-kun hasn’t been around idols that much, so he doesn’t get everything.”

If the redhead had been a lesser person he would’ve thought that Kuroko was insulting him. However, it was completely true; Kagami had no idea what it took to be an idol, but all he was getting from what he’s seen so far from these guys was that it took a pretty face and some talent. Almost like anyone could do it. Hell! He probably could if he wanted to.

Midorima didn’t say anything, just scowled at Kagami before he turned on his heel and left out the other door that they hadn’t entered through.

He looked to Kuroko, wondering if he had made the situation worse.

“Midorima-kun is always like this when Cancer’s place last.”

“What does that even mean?”

Kuroko shrugged. “He takes practice seriously, and doesn’t like when the others don’t.”

Kagami frowned, sticking his bottom lip out and biting on it thoughtfully. None of this was making any sense to him. It was like these idols lived in a completely different world from him, they don’t even have the same meaning for things or their slang was way off from the rest of the society. Like being an idol gave you a special place in the world.

“Midorima-kun is actually a nice person on a good day. The others are a little harder to get along with.”

Resisting the urge to slam the palm of his hand into his face, Kagami sighed. He wondered if he would run into anymore of these singing bastards today. Pretty boys with serious attitudes were more to come, apparently. He hoped not and after today he was sure that he wouldn’t see any of them again. After all, they were famous boys and he was just a highschool student.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that was shorter than the previous chapter but that's how it works, ain't it? Well leave your thoughts below and all of that jazz. Later! ~IF and Jinx


	3. Start of Something New

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IF: We're back~. With the newest chapter of course! So thanks to those readers who were waiting for an update, sorry it was kind of a long span, but we had a few kinks that we needed to work out with the story. But hey! Anyway KnBloser (I believe) and I am so sorry I forgot to address your comment in chapter 2 it completely slipped my mind; we do have some of the plot planned out, but we are however open to suggestions. That goes for anyone, have a suggestion leave it in the comments, we'll take a look at it!   
> Jinx: Wow. This story is popular for what started off as an inside joke; thanks!!  
> See you at the bottom!  
> WE DO NOT OWN KnB   
> IF: Side note, the formatting got deleted when I swapped the doc, so I'm sorry, I tried to get the format back to normal, but I'll fix it at a later date if I missed any.

_The person who won the lottery may never win again, though they continue to buy tickets. The one who found love may never love like that again but they don't stop themselves from entertaining themselves with fantasies of their perfect person. They have once in a lifetime events, but still take the chance to take even more._

_Now, the boy who is living out his once in a lifetime chance doesn't realize it. Along the lines of how the lottery winner continues to buy tickets for a chance to win; the boy continues to be given opportunities to take his chance without knowing their frequency or when they'll run out._

* * *

 

Kagami had been shown around the studio briefly. He wasn't sure why he was given a grand tour; well, he wasn't sure why the idol had wasted his time on him in the first place. Surely Kuroko had something more important to be doing, something more idol-related than showing the previously American-occupier around.

After the tour he bid the idol farewell, feeling more and more out of place as the tour went on as Kuroko explained every little thing he didn’t need to know. Such as who they were with when the photo was taken, various awards given, other accomplishments that made the taller boy feel embarrassed by his meager shelf of trophies in his room.

That night Kagami made himself a large American style meal to try and settle his thoughts. It had been an extremely odd day. He looked through his contacts in his phone until he reached the one he wanted to use - well, it wasn't his first choice, but his first choice wasn't an option at the moment.

_To: Alex_

_Subject: my day_

_So I just had the weirdest day. You won’t believe what happened to me._

Kagami sent the text not expecting a response right away, seeing as Alex was several hours and miles away. Setting the phone down, he exhaled heavily and lifted a fork to dive into his meal. He was startled when his phone buzzed on the table next to him, dropping the utensil in his hand and swearing to himself.

_From: Alex_

_Subject: Re: My day_

_Does it have anything to do with a popular idol talking about meeting a certain_

_"Kagamicchi" on Twitter?_

Kagami choked on his soda, dripping Coke down his chin. His whole meal was a mess because of this shitty day. What else could go wrong?

_To: Alex_

_Subject: Re: re: My day_

_Popular idol?_

He sent the message having a vague feeling he knew who Alex was talking about. Alex had always been a fan of popular foreign music, but why the hell was he being talked about on Twitter? He didn't waste any time responding when he read Alex's next text.

_From: Alex_

_Subject: Details_

_Kise Ryouta, idol of a popular group in your area. He live tweets everything. So what happened?_

_To: Alex_

_Subject: Re: Details_

_Well, I saved a guy named Kuroko and then Kise showed up. We had lunch and I got a tour of their studio. That’s all that happened basically_

Kagami rubbed his face. This day didn't feel real. He wondered if this was how all people felt when they met idols and celebrities. Alex texted him back.

_From: Alex_

_Subject: Re: re: Details_

_Woah! You're so lucky! Most of Japan would love to be in your shoes. Tatsuya would be so jealous!_

Within a heartbeat his phone buzzed again, Kagami barely having time to read the first message.

_From: Alex_

_Subject: Sorry!_

_Oh my god! I’m sorry I brought that up! Please forget I said anything._

Tatsuya.

Kagami winced when his brother’s name was brought up, especially with the context of the rest of the text. It was too close to the reason they had the falling out in the first place. He tapped on the table thinking about what he wanted to say so Alex knew he wasn’t upset about his name being brought up.

_To: Alex_

_Subject: It’s fine_

_It’s fine, don’t worry. It was just a surprising day and I guess people would be jealous. I mean, they’re pretty popular._

_From: Alex_

_Subject: Jeez_

_Really, I’m really sorry I mentioned him!! You should probably get some rest after a long day. Talk to me if you need to! <3_

The heart at the end of her message deepend a pit in his stomach. There was food on his lap, Coke stains on his collar and a mind full of bullshit. Idols were ruining his beginning of life back in Japan. Worst of all, Alex, his only remaining bit of sanity, was in on all of this.

Cleaning himself up, Kagami decided he should take her advice and sleep. The clock ticked itself to around 8 pm, the boy stretching with a yawn, hands outstretched and palms open to the ceiling above him.

A change of clothes and ruffles of sheets, Kagami settled in bed, thumbs hovering over his phone. Rereading his conversation with Alex, something piqued his curiosity.

Kagamicchi. Something Kise had said on Twitter. With an itching sensation in the back of his mind, Kagami pressed his calloused thumbs against his keypad until he pulled the app up, finding the blond. It wasn’t that hard.

@actual_kise_ryo was pretty obvious and his selfies only further proved Kagami’s questions. Eyelids growing heavy, he couldn’t find the energy to try and search his name being mentioned in the idol’s tweets. Too many words after such a tiring day.

Closing his eyes and sending out a final yawn, Kagami listened to the wind breeze past his window.

_I just hope..._

* * *

_...that school is normal._ The words came to Kuroko’s mind before he woke up, like a dream hadn’t ended yet. Regardless, the boy yawned, blinking the last bit of sleep from his mind. He was confused by the words, but shook them off; it wouldn’t be the first time that a year went weird. In fact he was hoping he could get through high school without any incidents. He sat up and stretched, his back giving a satisfying pop as he exhaled a sigh.

Kuroko turned his head towards his alarm clock, finding that he had woken up thirty minutes early, which was odd for him. He turned and placed his feet on the cold floor. It was early enough that no one in the house was awake and moving yet, meaning he could shower with plenty of time to do so.

With quiet steps - quieter than normal -  he headed to the bathroom. Kuroko looked at the mirror when he arrived, taking in his appearance. The boy looked well rested, which was a plus, but his hair was sticking up at physically defying angles, per usual. He could hear Aomine’s voice from a training camp.

_Your bedhead is impressive as always, Tetsu._

Kuroko turned on the faucet and got the shower running. Once it was the right temperature, cool with little heat, he stepped under it. He allowed himself a few minutes to think.

Yesterday he had met an interesting guy. It was rare to find someone as kind as Kagami these days, especially one that would step in to stop a confrontation. He was loud and ate a lot as well. He wasn’t the fastest when it came to realizing things, either. Kuroko chuckled as he recalled the face Kagami had made when he realize that he was sitting in front of two of the biggest idols in Japan.

How odd for someone to not know us right away... A smile curled Kuroko’s lips, water dripping down his face in the gentle downpour. It was nice.

Kuroko knew that he has spent too much time in the shower already, shut off the water and toweled himself. His hair was flat with water, but he knew it would soon dry and it would become messy once again. It hard hair to handle it without a make up stylist but it felt more natural to him when he fixed it himself.

Without any noise, he returned to his room and stared at his highschool uniform. The black blazer and slackers were hanging up on his closet door. It looked sharp on the hanger, but it made him question if it would look all right on him. As soon as he finished dressing his mother called him down for breakfast, like she did every morning.

Even though he was famous, he still had to answer to his mother; thankfully they were able to stay the adoring parents they were and not the fame-seeking crazy ones.

“Kuroko-chan, you look very handsome in that uniform,” his grandmother greeted with a warm smile on her aging face.

He gave her a shy smile in response. “Thank you.”

The rest of the morning passed by without much hassle. By the time he was heading off to the station, he had prepared himself - physically and mentally - to go to his new school. Excited to see what it would be like, his mind bounced around with question of whether or not he would be crowded like Kise-kun or be a normal high school freshman. He hoped for the latter.

Kuroko was able to get to the station early and found out his train would be late, catching him slightly off guard. He quietly wished this wasn’t a bad luck sign, and a thought occurred to him about one of him members and their obsession with zodiacs. Maybe I should start checking that. Thankfully the train was delayed by a few minutes, his ride to school screeching to a halt, Kuroko stepping on board.

When he sat down, it occurred to him that he would be in a very public place without a disguise. The others would be mad at him, but people really don’t notice him that much so he didn’t think it would be an issue. Digging through his bag, he popped open his new novel and began reading while the ride swayed him slightly. No one spoke to him, his eyes grazing over the words until the train stopped once more. A voice called through the car and Kuroko realized this was his stop, closing his book and setting it back in its place.

When he stepped out of the train he could tell that the rest of the city was waking up. There were more people trying to get on and the seats were filling up quickly. A woman was rushing onto the train when she bumped into him, hurriedly apologizing and continuing on her way. It felt nice to not be hoarded with fans for once.

He got out of the station without another incident. The boy emerged onto the street and exhaled. Yes, he thought, the city is waking up. There were people making their way to the station, people lightly jogging or dashing towards the train. Most of the civilians in the three categories did the above while juggling cups of coffee, which Kuroko found highly impressive. He knew that he was still early, but he wanted to give himself time for delays like the train earlier.

Kuroko also figured that arriving to school earlier than normal might make him less noticeable to his peers, since they probably wouldn’t be looking that hard at a kid that’s already at his seat. Also since this is the first day of school, a lot of kids would be trying to figure out where their friends are and where their classrooms were. Kuroko paused in his steps, completely forgotten about the class list being posted where everyone would see his name and class. This going to be a lot more complicated, he thought with a sigh. He supposed it was good that they had fans, but he hoped no one at his new school was an overly crazy one.

He pushed his way to the board, looking for his name. He found it rather quickly and then turned and started to head to his class when he heard some commotion from behind him.

“Whoa! Could it be the Kuroko Tetsuya from GoM?”

Kuroko quickly turned around wondering if someone noticed him. However, there wasn’t a soul looking at him but the rest of the crowd suddenly seemed more excited.

“No way! Where do you see his name?”

“I wonder if he’ll give out autographs?”

With a sigh, Kuroko turned on his heel and continued heading in the direction his classroom was located. On his way he was nearly ran into, again, by a large male. Kuroko got out of the way quick enough, but when he looked up he saw a very tired looking Kagami heading in the direction of the board. The blue-haired boy had to stop himself from blinking in surprise. Kagami didn’t seem to notice him, and Kuroko took advantage of that fact and continued past him, wondering at the coincidence.

The classroom was nearly empty when he arrived, the only people in the room aside from himself was the teacher, and two students that seemed to be helping straighten up the room; they looked like second years in a first year classroom.

Kuroko took a seat at the back of the room, and didn’t bother with anything else but taking his book out of his bag. He read until the bell rang, letting students know that they had to get to class. Some students chatted non stop until they had to say their goodbyes because they weren’t early enough to get close seats, unlike the earlier ones who had hoarded areas around themselves. A few students had trickled in before the bell, and yet not a single one had noticed him. He pulled the book closer to his face, attempting to hide what features he could.

Just as the room got as loud as he thought it could, one final peer stepped through the door. From what Kuroko had observed, all the seats were taken, and by the way the classmate stood in the doorframe, trying to find a seat, it was obvious they were having the same problem. A large shadow cast over Kuroko, still hidden behind his book, when the chair in front of him squeaked against the floor, a loud thud when they sat down. Soft blue eyes glanced atop of his novel. Red hair sat in front of him; Kagami-kun.

How odd, before I didn’t see him at all. Now, since he saved me, it seems I keep running into him.

Kagami didn’t seem to notice him, even as he sat right in front of him. The bell rang before Kuroko could say anything.

The teacher, Moto-sensei, took his time writing his name on the board. When he finished, he then turned around, clipboard in hand.

“Let’s get roll call over with.”

Kuroko lost focus as the teacher called out all of the names, until they got closer to his name.

“Kagami Taiga?” The teacher called out.

“Here,” Kagami raised his hand halfway in the air.

The teacher took a second to check off Kagami’s name, and then called out the name after that.

“Kuroko Tetsuya?”

There was a second of stunned silence, then a loud groan followed by a thump as Kagami smacked his head on his desk. The other students bursted out in chatter; either annoyed by Kagami’s actions or looking for the idol that was in their class. Kuroko had raised his hand quick enough that no one but the teacher saw it, Moto-sensei was now working on quieting the class down.

Kuroko could still hear whispering. “Where is Kuroko Tetsuya?” “Is he not here?” “How lame.” Chatter quieted down to soft groans of students potentially missing the chance to have an idol in their class for the first day.

The idol hid his mouth behind his hand. He couldn’t believe his luck that Kagami would make such a scene at hearing his name. That was the second time the redhead saved him. Kuroko would have to thank him properly.

The rest of the morning passed, uneventful, the kids in his class still hadn’t realize that he was the one they were looking for and Kagami had refrained from causing any more trouble. If anything, the redhead had hardly moved from his spot where he had his head rested on the desk, snoring lightly.

When lunch rolled around, Kagami perked right up. If Kuroko was anyone else he would’ve laughed. Standing up, stretching with a loud yawn and a pop of his back, he didn’t even spare Kuroko a glance on the way out. The opposing teen stood up and followed the him - after all, he needed thank Kagami once more.

* * *

Kagami walked to the lunch room, dragging his feet. He was still sleepy and in a bad mood. Out of all of the people in the universe that could’ve been picked on, they chose him. He couldn’t believe that Kuroko Tetsuya, the random guy on the streets that was picking fights and apparently a hugely famous idol, went to his school. Not that he was a mathematician but Kagami was certain the odds should’ve been against that.

Thankfully, the cafeteria wasn’t that busy and he was able to get his lunch quickly. It must’ve died down since he was walking so slow. They still had plenty of food to choose from. He opened the sandwich he bought and started exploring the school.

_I wonder where the gym is?_

Kagami went out into the courtyard looking for the building that was most likely to house the gym. The frustration of these past events - specifically this morning - could only be solved with basketball, the intense anxiety running through his veins. There was only one building big enough to look like it could a gymnasium. Without much further thought Kagami headed in that direction; vaguely, he thought that he heard footsteps behind him.

_This is a school after all, people walk around_ , he thought, shrugging it off.

Walking closer, the muffled sounds of basketballs pounding against the floor rang in Kagami’s ears like chimes of sweet music. Popping his head through the open door, he could see several bodies moving about, throwing and shooting, though their movements were stiff.

“Hey!” A voice called, Kagami straightening in surprise. “We have a visitor!”

“Oh, is that so?” Another voice called out - a female, versus the deeper voice from before. A girl came out, hands on her hips and a whistle hung around her neck, a bright smile and a cocked eyebrow. “You must be a first year.”

“Yeah,” he mumbled, eying the scene. Second years, most likely. Short guys and a much shorter girl all looked at the redhead. Kagami took their silence as an opportunity to speak. “Anyone want to play one-on-one with me?”

There were a few seconds that no one said anything. It was then when Kagami noticed one of the players was shifting side to side. Kagami turned to face him and opened his mouth to talk. “You want to play?”

The teen he had spoken to looked at him in surprise before narrowing his eyes behind his glasses. “You have a lot of nerve talking to your upperclassmen like that.”

The redhead knew that he should leave that conversation before he angered the other any further, though he didn’t understand why the glasses-wearing second year got so upset over a question. Then, the teen saw another one of the team members that looked like he could be a decent opponent. “Hey! You! Want to play me?”

The addressed teen looked surprise before shaking his head and holding up his hands. A cat-faced boy jumped up beside him. “Mitobe says he doesn’t want to play you without the coach’s okay.”

Kagami blinked - how was the other able to interpret all of that from a few gestures? “Uh, then what about you?”

The cat-faced boy with tanned skin shook his head. “No way!”

Kagami sighed. This was harder than he thought. _Why won’t any of them play? They’re in the basketball club, shouldn’t they be jumping at the opportunity to play someone strong?_

He looked around for more people. There was another second year that seemed to be watching it all.

“Over there! Do you want to play me?”

“It seems I can’t get my head in the game, I’ll have to decline.”

The redhead wondered about the first part of that statement, it seemed familiar for some reason; he shrugged, it didn’t matter. There was one more guy on the team, but he didn’t look like he would be much of a challenge at all. Once again Kagami found himself sighing at the standards of basketball in this country. All he wanted to do was play to work off the frustration that had built up over the past two days, especially after dealing with a certain group.

He was about to give up and leave the gym when a soft spoken, yet familiar, voice suddenly spoke up. “I’ll play you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're at the bottom, a slightly longer chapter for a slightly longer wait time. Works out in the long run doesn't it. Well we hope you enjoyed it, and leave what you thought below and hopefully we'll see you soon with the next chapter. Plot will soon become apparent I think, that's all for now. Twenty points for the person who finds the references! Later! ~IF and Jinx


	4. Ballin'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuroko and Kagami talk on a basketball court, and the Generation of Miracles are preparing for a concert

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IF: Ahh! Sorry for the long chapter gap! Life happened, finals, and we spent a lot of time discussing where we wanted this story to go instead of actually writing it. So Sorry! I'll talk more at the bottom! Also please enjoy some asshole!kuroko  
> Jinx: Sorry for the hiatus but school's over, the summer's here and our boys are back with more shenanigans! Hope you enjoy and thanks for being patient!  
> DISCLAIMER WE DO NOT OWN KnB  
> See you at the bottom!

_Like the sun shines come every day, clouds scatter across the dazzling sky. That isn’t always the case as rain tends to tumble down, the lottery winner running out of money and the love struck fool finding himself alone._

_While that may apply to others, the teen will soon find himself within his own light and a shadow to accompany him if he takes advantage of his destiny._

* * *

Kagami turned around, excited, to see who would accept his challenge. The grin on his face, however, died upon not seeing anyone.

“I’m right here.”

The redhead lowered his gaze and sure enough, there was a person in front of him. He jumped back in surprise with a strangled yelp. After Kagami calmed down from his shock he observed his soon-to-be opponent. He restrained himself from running a hand down his face with a sickening slap on contact.

It just had to be _this_ guy again. Behind him he could hear the basketball team also recover from their surprise.

“Oi, Kuroko, are you stalking me or something?”

Just as the idol was about to speak, the other kids crowded around him, shoving Kagami out of the way, the boy stumbling a bit until regaining his balanced and huffing out hot, angered air.

“Kuroko? As in the _idol_ Kuroko Tetsuya?” The girl asked.

Kuroko, for his part, just nodded.

The cat faced boy from before spoke to Kagami. “You’re friends with this guy?”

Kagami huffed. “Friends?” There was a bit of sarcasm, words heavily implied with anger from this situation occurring and repeating. “No, we just met yesterday.”

“Ah,” with that the boy turned his attention to the celebrity

“Sorry, Kagami-kun, but our match will have to wait until later.”

Kagami grit his teeth in annoyance. _Really? What kind of person says that they’ll accept a challenge and then postpone it?_

The older teens fawned over the idol and Kagami sighed as his heavy footsteps lead him over to the basketball bin and grabbed a ball, the bumpy surface running over his calloused palms. He needed to play a little, even if it was by himself. He ran up to the net, dribbling loudly and slammed the ball through, and it fell and sounded with a loud _thunk_. No one paid any attention to him; even after he hung off the hoop for a few seconds. Kagami dropped down and retrieved the ball, the hoop bouncing in response until it slowed and ceased. He closed his eyes and envisioned a strong opponent. He was so engrossed by his mental game that he almost didn't hear one of the seniors call out to him.

“There’s three minutes until classes resume. I would start heading back if I were you.” Almost a little embarrassed by how into himself he got while playing, he nodded and tossed the ball back in the bin, heading back towards the door, not paying attention to the empty gym.

“Should we walk back?” Strands of grass sprouted in the spring air with positivity, light breeze brushing them against Kagami’s shoes when he stopped upon hearing a voice.

“ _Why_ would I want to walk back with you?” He threw his words over his shoulder, walking regardless of his words, Kuroko following him.

“We’re in the same class.”

“I know that.”

“So, we should walk back together.”

“Or, you know, we couldn’t.”

“But, Kagami-kun,” he paused for a second, “we are.” Stopped again, his temper popping off the charts, anger buzzing in his ears, Kagami whipped himself around to begin yelling at the empty air around him. Once again, the shorter boy had left without a word, leaving Kagami feeling, well, stupid. Realizing this, he started back towards the school when the bell rang, the teen yelling out a string of curses before sprinting towards the doors.

For someone with the potential of a great basketball player, Kagami wasn’t exactly blessed with _perfect_ athletic ability - he was practically doubled over from running through the halls, escaping the yelling of teachers over the chiming bell and sliding the classroom door open much louder than he expected. Heads turned as he wiped the sweat from his forehead, huffing his chest out and exhaling. Beneath him was a slight tickle of his arm, turning to see the cotton candy blue hair of Kuroko slide out under him and take his seat while the attention was on Kagami. A mouth opened to yell at the tall teen whose attention was on the silent boy, nose already buried in a book as if nothing had happened, but he had managed to escape a stern explanation of what’s expected of students, even if Kuroko came in after he did. It was just the beginning of afternoon and Kagami’s instincts knew the rest of this school year wasn’t going to be as easy as he had thought.

The last bell rang and Kagami gathered his materials up, bolting for the door before anyone else could reach it. He needed to get out of the classroom or he was going to go insane. The teacher had continued to send him stern looks throughout the lecture, even though he was mostly paying attention. He was also irritated with a certain idol, who had played innocent when Kagami had turned around and glared at him, just rubbing his nose with his finger while reading a book. Though in his rush he made a wrong turn and ended up spending another six minutes looking for the main gate. He could’ve cried in relief if he wasn’t so pissed.

Upon reaching the gate, a soft voice called out. _You have got to be shitting me._

“I think I owe you a basketball game.”

“You are _so_ lucky I didn’t get a detention. What the hell was that, walking in after me acting like you weren’t late?”

“The teacher didn’t notice me,” Kuroko replied.

 _Breath, Kagami, breath_. A few seconds later he was calm enough to talk. “Since you’re so eager to play me, then you know where a court is that’s nearby.”

“Yes, its only a few blocks away.”

He sighed, at least he was getting something out of the deal, knowing where a court was. “Lead the way.”

Kagami barely had time to finish the sentence before Kuroko had begun to move, heading out of the gate. Holding his tongue, he followed after the other; a good game is what he needed. School hadn’t ever been this stressful on the first day before. Basketball and then a burger. _Sounds like a plan._

The walk itself only took ten minutes, he hadn’t realized how close to a residential area Seirin was. There wasn’t anyone at the courts, which could be seen from the entrance. They looked old, judging by the rust around the rim.

“This the place?” The lack of conversation was starting to bother him.

“Do you see any other courts?” Kuroko answered. His sarcasm wasn’t always appreciated, especially when Kagami was so eager for a game, resulting a sigh from Kuroko. “The better courts in this area are about another twenty minutes in the opposite direction.”

 _Well, that’s good to know._ “Do you have a ball?”

“People often leave their balls on accident,” Kuroko said, eying one that sat in the shadows of the afternoon, “it might be old but it’ll work.”

“Okay.”

Kuroko fell silent again, picking up his pace to walk to the court. Kagami followed him, the usual pre-game adrenaline already flowing through his veins. He couldn’t help feeling excited about this game, especially since he had no idea how well Kuroko played, he didn’t have a scent (which probably meant he was weak), though it was the first time that he had encountered a person like that and he was interested.

The shorter of the duo walked and picked up the ball, bouncing it from hand to hand and squeezing it. From this distance, Kagami could tell that the leather was smooth but there was still some grip on it. It had a different feel from the balls used indoors with his training, but it a more comfortable feeling on his hands.

“Toss it here,” he ordered.

Kuroko did so, and Kagami caught it easily. He had been right, it was smooth, and it wasn’t a regulation ball, it was a little bigger and the groves a little shallower. Letting bounce he saw that despite its age and use it still held all of its air.

“How do you want to play?”

“Two out of three, first to five wins?”

Kagami grinned, undoing his gakuran and tossing it to the side letting it pile up. Across from him Kuroko also took his off and tossed it as well; it laid across the bench while he also rolled up his sleeves.

 _So he’s serious._ Kagami grinned - this was just getting better and better. “Who gets the ball first?”

“You can.”

Kagami nodded, crouching down and starting to dribble the ball, mapping out all of his possible routes. He moved suddenly and quickly darting to the right, faking into a cross. To his surprise Kuroko read it, and to his greater surprise the other was too slow to respond. A second later it made a lay up. He tossed the ball back to Kuroko.

His opponent mimicked his starting position, dribbling the ball three times before charging to the left. Kagami could easily see that the run drive and the dribbles were out of sync but it was easy for him to steal and twist into a shot.

“Two to none. My ball,” he called, beating Kuroko without even breaking a sweat.

Kuroko tossed the ball back to him, he caught it and dribbled while he waited for Kuroko to get back into a defensive stance. Once he was Kagami faked a drive pulling back into a shot, finding that the idol could once again read his moves but not respond, and even his attempted response was clumsy and slow.

 _Maybe he’s a slow starter._ With that thought he moved to stand between Kuroko and the basket.

The other once again tried to rush past him, but he let go of the ball and Kagami picked it up for an easy lay up. He grit his teeth; that was a rookie mistake. They switched sides again and in an experiment Kagami charged past Kuroko, not caring if his dribble and steps matched, it was a messy drive, a person who was skilled enough would find this to be an easy steal and score. Instead Kuroko’s hand skimmed past him harmlessly and he gathered his strength to dunk it into the basket.

_What the hell?_

After one more of Kuroko’s turns, he tried to shoot but lacked the height and Kagami knew instinctively that the trajectory was bad and would’ve missed by a mile. He doubted that Kuroko could make a basket even if he was a meter away from the hoop, all of Kagami’s interest in a partner turning into a rage of being mocked by some asshole idol who had no idea what he was doing.

After they began the second game Kagami was fed up. Kuroko sucked there was no other way to put it. “Why aren’t you taking this seriously?”

Kuroko blinked. “I am.”

“I can’t believe how arrogantly you challenged me when you’re this weak.”

“I’d knew you win before we started,” he said with a shrug.

“Then why are you doing this?” Kagami pulled himself up to his full height. “You makin’ fun of me?”

“No, I’m complimenting your skills.” Kuroko said in a monotone voice.

“‘Compliment’ my ass, you should just give up on basketball and stick to being a pretty face.” He internally winced at his own rudeness, but he was just so irritated with everything right now, he didn’t need some rookie acting like a big shot; especially not an idol.

He heard the other sigh. “It’s the opposite.”

“Hah?” Okay, now he was confused.

“Basketball is something I...” he paused, trying to find his words while his eyes watched Kagami’s facial expressions, “enjoy, while my career is something I have grown to... dislike.”

Kagami spun the basketball on his finger. “If you don’t like it, just quit.”

“I may want to leave, but it’s not that simple.”

“Then simplify it.”

“I’d rather be able to devote my time to basketball as something I enjoy all the time.” A gentle breeze rolled past them, Kuroko’s tufts of hair falling into his face and back when the wind ceased. Kagami could feel the little bit of sweat roll down the back of his neck, chilled by the chilly air. Turning his eyebrows inward, Kagami opened his mouth to talk, the faint echo of shoes walking around the outskirts of the court.

“That doesn’t-” Kagami began when the footsteps got louder.

“Tetsu-kun!” The voice was high pitched and girly though Kagami didn’t catch any sight when suddenly Kuroko was ambushed by a blur of pink. Kagami though he faintly heard a name, but didn’t have time to figure out what it was since the ball he was spinning was snatched away. He watched as a hand grabbed it from his finger and tossed carelessly into the basket.

“Oi, Tetsu, why’re you hanging out with such a commoner?”

“Hey! What the hell, man?!” Kagami shouted.

“Don’t you know who you’re talking to?”

Kagami grit his teeth. “Am I supposed to?”

“I’m the one and only Aomine Daiki.” The other male stretched his hands out to the sides, presenting himself boldly.

“That’s supposed to mean something to me?” He thought the guy looked vaguely familiar but he wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of knowing that.

“Seriously, why are you with him?” Aomine turned his head to Kuroko. “Does he know you’re an idol? Or is he that much of an idiot he doesn’t recognize the biggest idols?”

Kagami inhaled sharply, before abruptly turning on his heel, grabbing his gakuran and leaving. Who the hell does he think he is? _Calling me an idiot. Egotistical, self-important jerk!_

* * *

“Aomine-kun, that was rude.” Kuroko said from his spot against Momoi’s chest.

“He’s an ass.”

Momoi let Kuroko go. “We need to get a move on, we’ll be late.”

The started to walk, and as Kuroko guessed, the questions started.

“Who was he?”

“A classmate.”

“That guy managed to get into high school?” Exhaling a laugh out of his nose, Aomine shoved his hands in his pockets.

“Dai-chan, _you_ managed to get into high school,” Momoi replied. “What were you guys doing?”

Kuroko didn’t miss the suspicious tone in her voice. “Playing one-on-one.”

“It looked like he was going to hit you.” Aomine replied. “He was too close for basketball.”

“Ah,” he hummed. “I said something that ticked him off.”

“Tetsu-kun! That’s not like you, you normally don’t say rude things.” Momoi scolded lightly.

“I wasn’t aware that it would offend him.” Kuroko shrugged.

Aomine yawned. “Well, he’s an idiot. Not worth your time. An idol doesn’t need to make friends with his classmates.”  

Kuroko chewed on his cheek, not sure how to reply to Aomine’s callous words. His silence prompted the other two to fall into their own comfortable quiet. He spent the rest of the walk lost in his thoughts.

The others were already gathered on the stage when they arrived. Akashi was the first to notice them.

“You’re almost late.” He called. “Why?”

“Eh? Why does it matter? We’re here  on time.” Aomine called back, resting his hands behind his head as he walked to the dressing room.

Momoi looked at Aomine nervously and then back to Akashi.

“Tetsuya, why were you almost late?”

He didn’t feel the need to lie. “I was playing basketball and the time got away from me.”

He heard Akashi hum somewhat thoughtful but not in a pleasant tone. “Well,” he began, crossing his arms and watching Kuroko, the latter standing silently, used to Akashi’s words of pretend praise and casual conversations. “So long as you remember basketball is just a game and that this is your life.”

Kuroko bit his lower lip. “Yes, Akashi-kun.”

He turned and hurried into the dressing room. Dropping his bags onto the floor he quickly changed into his practice outfit, a white t-shirt, basketball shorts, and sneakers. Once he was finished he went out onto the stage, standing by Kise, the blond in the middle of stretching.

“Kurokochi! Want me to help you stretch?” The blond chirped happily.

“No, thank you.” He sat down on the ground and pulled back on his extended leg.

Akashi moved to stand in the center of  the stage. “As you all know we will begin selling our newest album in less than a week, and we have a live performance the same day. The vocals are sounding good but our dancing needs work.”

“Yeah, Kise can’t even make it past the first verse without tripping over his own feet.” Aomine mumbled, coming to stand next to Kuroko.

“Aominecchi! If you just told me how to do the spin then I would be fine!”

“Its not that hard. You just do this!” He said as he kicked his foot out effortless spinning and then standing firm in the same direction he had started in.

“That’s not helpful,” Kise whined, closing his eyes and sinking further into his stretches.

“As I was saying,” the redhead cleared his throat, gathering everyone’s attention back on him. “I plan on extending practice two hours to account for our need to improve.”

 _Even with school starting?_ Kuroko arched an eyebrow.

“Okay, let’s start with song one.”

As Akashi had said, the singing portion of their work had been excellent but their motions needed more work. Akashi continued his stance in the center of the stage. Kuroko stood directly to his left, Aomine and Kise further to the side and Midorima and Murasakibara, who had been quiet while the bickering ensued, stood off to the right. Everyone gathered their partners and Momoi stood in the middle of the room, calling out their mistakes and telling them (mainly Kise) to remain in tune with the rhythm.

They didn’t have microphones but it was empty enough to have their voices echo in the area, Murasakibara’s voice too low to carry but Midorima attempted to make up for it on the other’s sake.

“ _Darling_ ,” Akashi began, naturally as the starter for the song the English rolling off his tongue like a native speaker. His feet were shoulder length apart, his left hand on his chest and his right palm up towards the empty room. “I miss the sound of your voice.”

“Your voice~” your Kuroko echoed, repeating the line a second after Akashi said it and extending the note for a few more seconds, turning to have his back towards Akashi, eyes directed towards Momoi who gave the slightest of a smile, catching his gaze.

“ _Sweetheart_ , I miss the feel of your touch.” Pressing his back against Kuroko, Akashi swung his leg out towards his new stance.

“Your touch~” his role was to echo after Akashi, his voice carrying shortly after Akashi’s, covered again with the other’s next line. Kuroko brought both hands to his chest, tapping his fingers on his body.

“ _Baby_ , I miss you, won’t you be mine?” Cocking his head to the right, closing his eyes for a second and flashing that smile that brought out the uniqueness of his eye colors, Akashi winked, a classic for the crowd. He stepped back, Kuroko following him, the other four echoing “mine ( be mine).” Kise and Aomine centered the stage in their spot, the first duo stepping to rotate on the left.

“In the starlit night,” Aomine extended his hands and swung his hips. “I see your reflection in the stars.”

“In the sunset,” Kise copied Aomine’s moves, his hips turning in the opposite direction so they could brush against each other in the middle. “I see our smile.”

“The sunshine can’t express this love.” Spinning on his right foot, Aomine hitched his left shoulder up.

“The clouds can’t cover this feeling.” His spin was better than Aomine gave him credit for, Kise resting his arm carelessly over Aomine’s welcoming shoulder.

“Won’t you be mine?” This part they would be sharing a microphone, sharing their line as the others echoed the same line, “mine (be mine).” Kise and Aomine stepping to the right while the remaining two stepped up.

“I could kiss you to sleep,” Midorima sang, pressing two fingers to his lips and turning them out with a pretend kiss.

“I could never let you go,” Murasakibara hugged his arms around his waist, snug for his large figure.

“I could love you forever,” his elbow turned outwards, forming a triangle that Murasakibara linked his own arm with.

“I could treasure you endlessly,” they turned towards each other, another situation where they would share a mic.

“Won’t you be mine?” As the echoes sounded they all lined up in a row of colored hair and ranging heights.

“Be mine,” Akashi hummed out, letting his voice carry.

“Oh, be mine,” Kuroko continued to repeat softly.

“Be mine,” his voice was flatter than before, but Kise copied Aomine with a lighter tone.

“Oh, be mine.”

“Be mine,” Midorima sang, his voice a little louder to make up for Murasakibara’s growing laziness.

“Oh, be mine.”

“ _Baby_ ,” As it started, Akashi began the finale of their song.

“Please.” A little louder than usual, Kuroko got his own turn - a single word at the end of the song.

“Won’t.” Aomine picked up his role.

“You.” Enjoying his partner’s effort, Kise sang to his heart’s content.

“Be.” Midorima pushed up his glasses as a habit, which sometimes won the hearts of girls so they let it be whenever it happened.

“Mine?” For having the last say in the song, Murasakibara picked up his tone, the others humming and repeating their lines in a softer voice to end the song, Momoi clapping.

“That went well, let’s take it from the top - Tetsuya, you were off for the latter half.”

Kuroko bit back a sigh and went to get into his starting position. He didn’t know why he thought working with Akashi would be any easier than working with Aomine, but it's what the fans wanted.

 _Its what the fans want._ He repeated mentally  as the song started its first few bars, he would manage somehow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay! Hi, we're at the bottom welcome! I would like to say that this is Jinx and I's first time writing song lyrics and an actual performace so if you have any tips they would be deeply welcomed! Otherwise tell us what you thought! See you next time!


	5. Showtime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys perform, and Kagami is begrudgingly impressed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *slides in* Hi! We're so sorry for the delay, its been a year, but its just been a struggle getting our muse back and we hope to update on a more frequent basis in the near future. Thank you for reading!

****_ Finally, given the chance to change his life in a way he wasn’t sure how, the boy seized his opportunity and began his adventure on a road unknown.  _

* * *

Kagami trudged through the rain sleepily, covering his mouth as he let out a long yawn. He had spent most of the night talking about the outcome of the latest Laker’s game. In the end he had stayed up until it was three in the morning and he was finding that he regretted it, still it was nice to know that they won only a few minutes after the game. Talking basketball was something he was always up for doing.

He turned the corner and frowned when he wasn’t greeted with the winking face of a certain blond. It wouldn’t have been much of a problem if it wasn’t for the fact the blond had been replaced with the entire herd of rainbow haired idols. It was similar to their poster outside of Maji. While he didn’t particularly care about the group he couldn’t stop himself from staring.

The poster was set in a white room with a long desk several people were leaning against, the background was filled with miscellaneous teen items from trophies to sports equipment to magazines, and there was a slight platform some people were sitting or standing on it. The redhead he had seen on the tv advertisement that first day was in the front of the picture, with a hand on his hip and jacket slung over his shoulder, smirking. Kise and Kuroko were sitting on the step, Kuroko had his legs crossed and his hands in his lap head turned to the side and smilingly slightly; Kise on the other hand had one of his knees bent and was resting an arm on it, the other hand was running through his hair and he was also smiling softly. Then there was the asshole, Aomine, who was standing further back on the platform with his legs spread shoulder width apart and his hands in his pocket - he had a toothy smirk on his face. There was the guy he had met briefly in the practice studio, Midorima? He was sitting in the only chair with a book in one hand, and the other pushing up his glasses while he was giving a cool look towards the camera. The last guy, he didn’t recall meeting, was leaning on the desk with a sucker in his mouth looking at the camera with a bored look. 

For some reason the poster really pissed Kagami off. It was more of a poster advertising some dating game than a band, group, whatever. He narrows his eyes at it and stormed past the bus stop. Not wanting to stay in the vicinity of the poster. They probably only became popular because of their looks. 

The rest of the walk had him seeing a lot more of the same poster, with girls squealing and crowding around it, and in some cases ripping the poster off of the window or wall. 

Needless to say, Kagami was not happy with the new decor on his walk to school. Why did they even bother changing out the posters. He was sure that it said something but he wasn’t sure what it was advertising. Probably something unimportant. 

“Can you believe it? The GoM are performing at the mall soon! For  _ free!  _ I’m so going!”

_ Oh. That’s what the poster was saying.  _ Kagami shrugged. He would just make sure that he’d avoid the mall in the near future. 

Walking into his class he made sure to check behind him for Kuroko. He wanted to be safer rather than sorry, a heart attack would not make his day any better. Finding no one Kagami continued onto his seat. Pausing to check Kuroko’s desk and saw that the usually early boy wasn’t there. 

He wondered if morning practice would make him earlier or later for class.  _ Man, I really want the basketball team to hand out the official applications.  _

Minutes passed and then he heard the classroom door opening. Kagami glanced towards it; Kuroko was walking through the door. Quickly he looked away not wanting to make eye contact, but his gaze lingered long enough to see how tired the other teen looked. It wasn’t any of his business.

Kuroko sat down behind him and didn’t say a word. Kagami felt his neck prickle with anticipation of having a conversation. From what he had experienced recently he was sure that it was coming soon.

The morning bell rung and their still hadn’t been any move for Kuroko to have a conversation. Throughout the morning period Kagami kept waiting for a note or something. It was stupid because he didn’t even really like the kid, but this was throwing him off of his game. 

By the time lunch rolled around Kagami was severely agitated and would initiate the conversation himself. “Hey.” 

Kuroko flicked his eyes up to Kagami’s face, but didn’t seem surprised by the sudden greeting. “Hello.” 

“No sleep last night?”

“Practice ran late. Then there was the homework.” Kuroko replied.

Kagami blanched. “We had homework?” 

“Yes.” 

_ Shit. I totally forgot.  _ “So did practice run late because of that performance coming up?”

“Yes. Akashi-kun demands perfection.” 

Kagami shrugged. “Well you guys are professionals. I wouldn’t want to see some half-assed routine done by performers I like.” 

“That’s true.” Kuroko muttered quietly. 

Kagami arched an eyebrow, but otherwise said nothing turning his attention to his lunch. He was hoping now that he had a discussion with Kuroko he could at least focus on the rest of school, and also figure out what homework he was missing. Hopefully it wasn’t due today. As lunch ended he couldn’t help but wonder what kind of practice Kuroko had to do as an idol that would make him so tired. Not that he cared, but it could be a good work out, maybe it was dealing with cardio? 

The rest of school flew by, and Kagami was relieved to find that the homework wasn’t due today but sometime next week. Which explained why he didn’t remember it, the due date was too far away. 

As Kagami left the grounds, all he could hear was talk about the GoM and their free performance. It was weird that the would suddenly do a performance like that out of the blue for no charge. It was probably a marketing tactic, but he couldn’t see how. Kagami sighed. He just wanted to play basketball, since not playing it seemed to make him think about unimportant things, like random idol groups that he was loosely connected to because of a classmate. 

He meant to stop by Maji on his way home, but the place was filled with all sorts of GoM fans talking excitedly taking the posters that were being offered. There was a wide assortment of people, Kagami raised an eyebrow.  _ Maybe they aren’t just famous because of looks?  _

Sighing, he ran a hand down his face. He was going to have to look up some of their songs now. If they were any good he wasn’t sure what he was going to do, but if they weren’t he would at least be satisfied to know that he wasn’t going to be taken with the group like everyone else seemed to be. 

Having a goal in mind caused him to walk faster to his apartment. He got home three minutes earlier than he usually would. 

After he got himself settled he pulled out his laptop and searched for the Generation of Miracles’ webpage hoping that they would have some of their music online to make listening easy. He could of course go to one of the various music sharing sites, but he didn’t know how good the quality would be. 

Thankfully, the webpage was easy to navigate and some of their oldest songs were available for people to listen to them. He noted the date that they were going to be doing the show at the mall. It was soon, at the end of the week. Which made sense because he was sure if they announced it any earlier there would be way too many people coming to see them. 

The first song he listened to was a duet between Aomine and Kuroko. It had something to do with a fated meeting and drifting apart. Kuroko’s voice was light and melodical, the lyrics made it sound hopeful talking about how they were fated to meet and this was just the beginning of their story. Aomine’s voice on the other hand was a complete contrast to Kuroko’s: deep and melancholy. The most striking part was how  _ good  _ it sounded when they sung together.  _ Not bad _ . 

Kagami clicked the next song, which happened to be between Kise and Midorima. This song talked about the sun and the stars. Kise’s bubbly voice, which was pleasant to listen to sung about the sun and Midorima’s soft tone sounded good with the lyrics talking about the stars. They didn’t have that perfect pitch like Kuroko and Aomine though. 

When that song finished the next song was already starting to play. It was the two that he was least familiar with the redhead, who was probably Akashi, and the tall guy who by default was then Murasakibara. They sung about how no queen compard to you, the princess. Akashi’s voice, it sounded like the guy on the advertisement, was perfect. extremely pleasant to listen too, filled with a quiet confidence. Murasakibara’s was kind of nasally and hard to listen to, but somehow they managed to blend their voices together to make the song one of the best ones Kagami had ever heard. 

_ Damn. They  _ are _ talented.  _ He paused the song, wondering what he was going to do with this information.  _ Though, _ he stopped to think,  _ it could be because they were edited for sound. _

He knew that there was only one way to tell -  he was going to know for sure to see if their talent was genuine or not. He’d have to see them perform himself. Luckily for him he knew of a free performance. 

* * *

 

Kuroko idly played with his nails while Akashi harmonized to himself in the mirror. Painted light blue to match his overall color scheme of his outfit, one of the nails began to chip within his palm as he waited. Midorima flipped through a book, Murasakibara was trying to perfect a bun until Kise let out a large huffed sigh and took care of it himself. Aomine was off talking with Momoi, more or less her scolding him. It was a usual moment before a concert, but Akashi cleared his throat and called for everyone’s attention.

“As you know, this is a promotional event for a new CD. It’s a free concert, so expect a large amount of people. Don’t let that distract you - we’ve done this many times before, and-”

“We know, Akashicchi.” Kise whined, adjusting his gloves until he was satisfied.

“I’m aware, Ryouta. Let me finish.” The blond sighed as the other readied to continue his pep talk. “Afterwards we have a signing and a shoot and I want all of us to follow that schedule, no breaks unless I give the order.”

“What, are you our mom?”

“Dai-chan, stop it” Momoi hushed him and swatted at his arm when she stood next to his relaxed position over two chairs. 

“As I was saying - we have a few minutes until then and I expect this to be one of our best performances yet. Plenty of practice has gone into this and you’ve all improved. Finish getting ready so we’re on time. And Tetsuya?”

“Yes, Akashi-kun?”

“Stop picking at your nails. They must be perfect for the shoot afterwards, we won’t have time to touch them up.”

“Yes, Akashi-kun.” The redhead strutted off and out of the room to finish arrangements while time ticked. 

“Kuroko,” Looking up and expecting kind words, Kuroko met the back of a full head of green hair. Not meeting his eyes, Midorima continued: “Stop picking, nanodayo.”

“Yes, Midorima-kun,” he said, after a brief pause and examined the damage. Not bad enough to be noticeable by cameras but worthy of another stern conversation regarding his appearance. 

Two knocks sounding on the door, then a loud but muffled voice through the door told them they had one more minute.

“Come on,” Momoi said, herding them together out the doors. “You’ll be great!” She smiled as Akashi, who was waiting, pulled back the curtain draped over the door and into the sea of fans crying out.

“Welcome!” Akashi said, putting on his performance voice; louder and clearer than his usual voice and carried a professional and pleasurable theme for the fans. “Glad you all could make it. We are the Generation of Miracles!” Excited voices sounded as Akashi introduced himself, followed by Midorima, Kise, Murasakibara, Aomine and Kuroko, hidden behind all the cheers for the others.

Music began to pour out from the speakers behind the makeshift stage they stood on as they assumed their positions for the first song. Moving towards the front, Akashi held the mic towards his mouth and smiled, eyes gleaming. 

“ _ Darling _ ,” he began, a few short cries ringing out, “I miss the sound of your voice.”

“Your voice, your voice,” Kuroko echoed, a little behind Akashi. His voice wasn’t awfully loud but it helped with the effect of repeating Akashi’s words.

“ _ Sweetheart, _ ” he put his other hand on my chest, displaying a sincere motion of love, “I miss the feel of your touch.” 

“Your touch, your touch,” hand in the same position, Kuroko drummed his fingers against his body.

“ _ Baby _ , I miss you, won’t you be mine?” Shooting a wink to the crowd, the lowered the mic from his face.

“Mine, mine, be mine,” the other five echoed in tune with Kuroko, the first two stepping to the right while Aomine and Kise moved towards the front, their duet starting with Aomine.

“In the starlit night I see your reflection in the moon,” the teen sang, face to his eyes to imitate gazing into the night sky. 

“In the sunset I can see your smile,” for effect he smile, white teeth poking through his pink lips.

“The sunshine expresses my love.”

“Clouds can’t cover this feeling.”

“Won’t you be mine?” The said in unison as the other four repeated “mine, mine, be mine”, transitioning to the remaining members.

“I could kiss you to sleep,” Midorima sang, tapping two fingers to his lips.

“I could never let you go,” Murasakibara wrapped his arms around his hips after saying his line, swaying a little bit.

“I could love you forever.”

“I could treasure you endlessly.”

“Won’t you be mine?” they called out, stepping to the side like the others hand after finishing their parts.

“Mine, mine, be mine.”

“Mine,” Akashi said, moving towards the front again.

“Oh, mine,” Kuroko echoed, standing behind the leader.

“Mine,” Aomine said, falling into line.

“Oh, mine,” his voice wasn’t meant to echo but it was softer than earlier, though Kise’s brilliant smile sparkled again, causing a louder squeals from the fans than the first time.

“Mine,” pushing up his glasses, Midorima followed, towering over the blond in front of him.

“Oh, mine,” in contrast to Midorima in front, Murasakibara stood much higher above the rest, like a tree set towards the back of the stage.

“Baby,” the redhead started off again, music winding down as the song began to close.

“Please.”

“Won’t.”

“You.”

“Be.”

“Mine?” As Murasakibara ended, the music ceased subtly as it softened until nothing, crowd erupting with excitement, some shouting that they’d be any of the member’s ‘baby’, mainly to Kise and Akashi, as they were mainly the center of attention towards their female fans.

“Are you ready?” Midorima asked, more cheers forming as another song began to play from the speakers.

* * *

“Good job, guys!” Momoi’s forever cheerful voice replaced the sound of each other’s voices and music when they all pushed through the doors on the side of the stage. “Mukkun, you were really into it today,” she encouraged, smiling with joyous eyes - Murasakibara briefly took the compliment but walked in line with everyone.

“Tetsuya.” Kuroko was the first one to be addressed by Akashi before he had entered the dressing room. “Today wasn’t one of your bests.” 

“I know, Akashi-kun.”

“Do you?” His comeback was quick, never missing a beat when it came to his career. “Practice earlier was fine - you were too flat during the performance.” Rather than asking polite, caring questions like ‘is something wrong?’ ‘are you nervous?’ or anything other than more critiques Aakashi carried on and said “maybe you should stay after and work on your moves some more.”

“Yes, Akashi-kun.”

“Really? I think he was fine,” Momoi’s voice cut into the conversation, everyone pausing temporarily.

“Satsuki, get out of here!” Aomine yelled from the other side of the room, collecting his things hurriedly, as if he was indecent.

“It’s not big deal Dai-chan, all you’re doing is freshening up! I can be here, right, Akashi-kun?” 

A light smile fluttered on his face, nodding, a little unsure.

“We do appreciate privacy, Satsuki, but thank you for your input on Tetsuya’s act today. We’ll discuss this between the two of us later.” It was her turn to hesitate for a moment.

“All right,” her voice drained a little bit but perked when she glanced at her watch. “Eight more minutes, guys! Signing time is coming up!” With that she left, closing the door and six exhales echoed simultaneously. 

“You heard Momoicchi!” Kise called out, cheerfully attempting to bring up the positivity in the room.

“Hurry up with the mirror, I need to fix my eyes, nanodayo.”

“We’ve been working for years,” Aomine said, reclining in one of the chairs, lazily adjusting his collar. “And I still am amazed by the things I hear in here.”

“Oh, Aomine-cchi, that’s show business,” Kise said, mouth slightly agape as he carefully slide an eyeliner brush over his top eyelid, dragging it out and lifting it suddenly, pausing to let it dry and opening his golden eyes to the perfect wings. 

“Kise,” Midorima’s voice lingered along the lines of irritation with a calmer expression on his face. “Your makeup is fine.”

“How would you know?” Kise mumbled, working out the other eye with a second coat.

“What I  _ do _ know is that you’re going to hold all of us up, nanodayo.” Kise clicked his tongue but eased his scowl in order to keep his face as flat as possible as he continuously repeated layers.

“Kise-chin, Aka-chin’s gonna get mad.” From the far side of the room Murasakibara spoke, apparently following along the conversation. He had his hands shoved so far into his pockets that his pants were down on his hips, bottom of his stomach exposed as he stretched out over a chair. The mentioned redhead was not to be seen but his voice still lingered in an one-sided conversation with Kuroko. 

“He will not if Kise will hurry up.”

“God,” Kise rolled his eyes, capping his makeup and setting it to the side for later.

“You could at least clean up after yourself, nanodayo.”

“And then what, Midorimacchi? Sign autographs for you?” His voice taunted sarcasm, Kise pushing back his hair and turning his eyes up to his colleague. “I’ll give you the spot when I’m done.” Midorima paused quickly.

“Are you done?”

“Yes.” Moving aside with a huff of agitated air, Midorima replaced Kise’s spot. He took off his glasses, movements very slow and precise given his naturally poor eyesight.

“Where’s Kurokocchi?” Kise asked, opening a bottle of water and raising it to his lips, not sipping yet. 

“Talking t’ Akashi,” Aomine said, mouth full of bread, crumbs scattered on his shirt.

“Jeez,” Midorima scoffed, closing the tube of mascara and putting his glasses back on. “You could at least be a little more tidy, Aomine.”

“Yeah, yeah, I will when Murasakibara puts some clothes back on.” Two voices startled a small gasp, Midorima and Kise astonished to the purple haired teen, who sat in the same spot, replacing his outfit with a loose tee shirt and basketball shorts, a bag of chips resting on his stomach.

“Akashicchi is going to get really mad!” Kise squealed, Midorima mumbling on how disgusting the group was.

“So hopefully you’ll do better next time, Tetsuya,” his lecture was winding to an end and audible footsteps were heard when he turned around and headed to the back of the room. Kuroko simply nodded and followed, needing to freshen up.

“Guys!” Momoi called out, sticking her head in the door. “Everyone’s waiting --  _ Mukkun _ ! Get dressed!” He grumbled a response, getting up and brushing the crumbs off, grabbing the hem of his shirt and beginning to lift it.

“Wait until she’s gone! Satsuki, we’ll be out in a few!” Aomine yelled, getting up and shooing her away. 

“I’m just saying--” She was cut off when Aomine tossed a magazine towards the door, which fluttered at her feet.

“Aominecchi, that’s rude!” The blond yelled out, looking up from his phone. The two began to argue, Momoi ducking away and leaving them to their usual escapades. 

“He’s right, Daiki - no need to be rude.” Thin lips formed what could be called a smile, Akashi taking the spot where Midorima had left. Currently the ladder was mumbling to himself about a smudge on his glasses, wiping it off while Akashi brushed his bangs. 

While they’d been working together for years now, Kuroko never quite knew how to fit in. It was Akashi who pointed out things in his appearance and it was usually Kise or Aomine who engaged him in conversation but while everyone was occupied he stood, alone, watching the door and longing for someone to save him from this color-coordinated disaster.

“Jeez,” came a sudden voice, followed by two thuds - the door closing and a body hitting a wall, huffing out air. “It’s crazy out there.” Deathly silence fell over the six, watching horrifically at a seventh person in their room.

“Kagami-kun,” Kuroko whispered, eyes wide and nervous. 

“Oi,” a shout sounded, Aomine sitting up and inhaling deeply, getting ready to blow up at the intruder.

“He’s lost,” Kuroko blurted, being the closest to the door and the easiest one to escort Kagami away. “I’ll help him.”

“Kur--” Pressing his elbow into Kagami’s ribs, Kuroko opened the door and dragged the taller out with him.

“What’re you doing here?” 

“I could ask the same, I guess. Nice outfit.”

“Akashi-kun picked it out but that isn’t the point. You aren’t allowed back here.”

“Says who?” His natural bluntness arose, looking down at Kuroko and all his little studded jewels; Kuroko rolled his eyes. 

“Says the sign, Kagami-kun. This is backstage, you have to get out of here.”

“Fine, fine! Stop elbowing me!” Whispering harshly as Kuroko pushed him through the stage doors, hoping he’d be unnoticed in the hoard of fans as a tall, redheaded high school student.

“Maji.” Kuroko let the doors close under his palms and exhale before going back to the dressing room.

“Tetsuya.”  _ Oh no. _

“Yes, Akashi-kun?”

“Who was that?”

“Someone who got lost,” he explained but he knew he was in trouble. The gold eye Akashi had was tormenting in how it always seemed to sense what was on your mind.

“Daiki says otherwise.” Kuroko tried his best to shoot an angered look at the mentioned but he felt like he couldn’t get anything past Akashi. “Was he a friend of yours?”

“He’s from my class,” he swallowed, “I’m assuming he just came to see me.”

“You mean ‘us’,” Akashi corrected before straightening his back with an inhale and crinkling his eyes in a semi-sympathetic smile. “All of us are a group and I - pardon,  _ we _ \- don’t want others interrupting the tranquility of the GoM. I’m sure you know that, Tetsuya.”

“Yes, Akashi-kun, I understand.”

“Good. Clean up; we have autographs.”

* * *

“Ah,” Kuroko said, pushing through the door and spotting Kagami, who, surprisingly, had listened and obeyed, sitting in the usual seat at Maji Burger. Kagami seemed to notice him and cleared his throat when Kuroko sat across from him.

“What took you so long? I was thinking about leaving.”

“I had to sign autographs and then had a photo shoot,” Kuroko answered, sighing softly, reclining and relaxing.

“Hm,” the other mumbled, trying to understand how writing your name could take so long and seem so tiring. 

“I’m going to get a milkshake, be right back.” 

“Hold on,” Kagami said, shoving his hand in his front pocket and wiggling around for a bit until he produced a small amount of money, pressing it in Kuroko’s palm. “Let me buy.”

“Thank you,” Kuroko said, leaving as silently as he came in, coming back with his fingers wrapped around his frozen treat. “Sorry about that,” he apologized, placing the change on the table.

“What, the milkshake? No problem,” the other said, collecting his change.

“I meant earlier.”

“Oh, yeah. What was that all about? Wasn’t that guy yelling at you?”

“Akashi-kun is a bit of a perfectionist,” taking a long sip, Kuroko let his words settle.

“Doesn’t really answer me, you know.”

“My performance wasn’t perfect today and he was upset about it, that’s all.”

“It looked fine to me.”

“You aren’t as experienced as we are, Kagami-kun,” Kuroko responded, trying to calmly explain earlier actions in a way that would be understandable. “He felt I wasn’t giving it my all.”

“Well, were you?” Kagami pursued. Kuroko thought about this for a second, took another sip and replied.

“I never do anything without being completely serious and doing my best.”  _ That’s a pretty hard worker, _ Kagami thought,  _ even if he seems so casual about it. _ “I just don’t always meet their expectations.”

“Well,” the redhead began, inhaling and putting his head in his hand. “If you’re trying and they don’t like it, just quit. The whole thing sounds stupid.”

“It’s not as easy as that,” Kuroko admitted, catching Kagami’s gaze, blue eyes dull but carrying the passion of an idol who lacks what everyone wants him to have. “I feel obligated to stay.”

“Why’s that, then?”

“It’s a long story.”

“I’ve got time.”

* * *

 

_ It was the first year of middle school at Teiko. The school festival was coming up and as each class worries of being original, someone in our class spoke up. They proposed the idea of a karaoke bar, provided we could gather everything for it. When all was said and done, the day of the festival arrived. _

_ I wasn’t popular amongst the rest of my classmates or peers as a whole, but it was Akashi-kun who offered me the microphone the first time. Everyone else had gone and he noticed I was waiting. The final song to play was a duet but I had no one to sing it with and Momoi-san offered Aomine-kun, so the two of us sang. We were decent enough to get cheered on for an encore.  _

_ I had known Aomine-kun, Momoi-san and the others from basketball. We weren’t good friends but we knew of each other. Some of our senpai from the club came to visit our classroom and it was Nijimura-san who looked at us told us that if we tried, maybe we could become somewhat decent and sing at practice. I could tell he was sarcastic and I didn’t really have any intentions to do so but Kise-kun was the one who sang his way down to the gym and Akashi-kun who persuaded all of us to join in.  _

_ How, I’m not completely sure, but eventually it got around that our class had good singers and Momoi-san was the one who showed us a video someone had posted of us. It was popular on the thread it was on and one day Akashi-kun gathered us to talk. _

_ He said he had received a phone call through his father and through the school that some people would like to come talk to us six after seeing that video. All of us went and sat in with our teacher about us potentially getting scouted to become singers through an agency. Akashi-kun was very pleased with this idea and he told us that it would be in our best interest to pursue a career like this, even if we were only in our first year of middle school. Kise-kun was used to the business like this after he was scouted for modelling earlier in his life. The others weren’t as interested and when we realized this meant we would have to quit basketball it aroused some arguments. _

_ Aomine-kun didn’t want to quit because basketball was something he enjoyed and something he was good at, even though Momoi-san - and many others - told him he had a natural talent for singing. Midorima-kun wasn’t happy he would lose the appearance of an extracurricular activity on his academic list. Murasakibara-kun was never really that interested in basketball and only decided to transition into the idol offer when he no longer had to juggle sports with everything else and how it was better to ‘be a pretty face’ than participate in games, as Kise-kun had put it.  _

_ I wasn’t a starter in the club and wouldn’t really be missed from games if I quit. I didn’t want to leave something I cared for so much but I didn’t want to lose the group of friends I had made through it so I kept basketball as a hobby, as did Aomine-kun. We would occasionally play games against each other but got scolded by our manager for goofing off. _

_ He also played a large role in us switching over. He wasn’t much older but he was stern and acted like he knew what was best for us. We didn’t know what was right but he directed us into practices after practices and pushed us further into a career path we had jokingly started. Momoi-san wanted to remain close with us and after talking with our manager and Akashi-kun, who had become the head of our group, she got to stay with us as a ‘side manager’. She took on whatever our manager didn’t want to do and entrusted it with her, which was easier on us. _

_ Many ideas were thrown in the air but eventually we had unanimously decided on the title ‘Generation of Miracles’. Things began to settle and the six of us became a small but popular idol group, thanks to a video a classmate had uploaded. It was in the later half of middle school did things start to pick up. _

_ No longer were we pretty voices - we became actors, dancers, singers and personas all while being students. It was hard for some of us to do all at once but when we got used to it, more work came to us when the first concert hit. It was local and not that big but a camera crew showed up and more offers for larger events began coming in and our manager greedily wanted to expand our horizons and took all the chances we could get for bigger things in our career. Not too soon after we were offered our first CD issue and with that came signings and more concerts. It seemed to never end until the school year ended and we were faced with a new struggle: starting high school. _

_ It was a little hard for us to keep in touch but we all stayed local to Tokyo, bound together by contract to remain a group despite the difference in locations. I was so happy to start at Seirin and get out of the constant eyes of peers who were fans and how school life no longer felt normal.  _

* * *

“And that’s when I met you, Kagami-kun.” Trying to retain all that information, Kagami paused for a moment before responding to all of that.

“You mean when you were getting beaten up that one time?” Kuroko nodded, setting down his empty shake.

“Yes.”

“Should an idol be doing things like getting into fights?”

“I was telling them to be quiet.”

“Yeah, yeah, I remember. Still, that’s... A lot.”

“I know.” There was another pause.

“If that’s what you want, I guess,” Kagami said with a shrug, giving up on the topic.

“Is that all you really wanted to say?” Kuroko asked, Kagami’s eyebrow twitching.

“No. To be honest I think the whole thing is stupid and that you should do what you want to do and not listen to some tight ass ‘friend’ who put you into this mess.” Complete with curling fingers for air quotes, Kagami huffed out his actual thoughts on the topic. “And, really, I think that--”

“Oh, hold on,” Kuroko interrupted, pulling out his buzzing phone. “It’s from Momoi-san. They need to talk to me, it’s important.” Putting his phone back and standing up, Kuroko headed towards the door, pausing when Kagami yelled out to him.

“Kuroko, try and stand up for yourself.” Nodding and pushing open the doors, Kuroko left. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed and will see you next time~! And as always leave your thoughts below~!


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